Thread-controller for sewing-machines.



No. 745,580. PATENTED DEC. 1, 1503.

v 4 1.1mm

' THREAD GGNTROLLER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILEi) JUNE B,'1900., no MODEL. 1 s SEEETSSHET 1.

No. 745,580. PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903.

J. DIEHL. THREAD OONTROLLER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLIGATIGN FILED JUNE 8, 1900.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS SHEBT 2.

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PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903.

J. DIEHL. THREAD CONTROLLER FOR SEWING MACHINES. v

APPLIOATIONTILED JUNE 8; 1900.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

nvautoz wamw g fi a l Mcoom1 UNITED STATES Patented December 1, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB DIEHL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD SEWING MACHINECOMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPO- RATION OF OHIO.

THREAD-CONTROLLER FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,580, dated December1, 1903. Application filed June 8, 1900 serial No. 19,571. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB DIEHL, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, State of Ohio, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines, of whichthefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part thereof.

This invention relates to sewin g-machincs, and particularly to acertain thread-controller device adapted to form a part of such machinesfor automatically regulating the amount of thread given 0d at eachstitch, according to the thickness of the work being operated upon. 7

In the formation of the ordinary lock-stitch the upper or needle threadloop is carried around the bobbin containing the underthread supply, soas to interlock with the under or bobbin thread, and should then inorder to produce a desirable stitch be drawn up by the take-up until thelock between the upper and under threads is at the center of the goodsor work being sewed. Therefore it will'be obvious that the amount ofthread given down for each stitch should vary more or less according tothe thickness of the work. In the ordinary sewing-machine as usuallyconstructed provision is made whereby a certain determined amount ofthread is drawn from the spool or other thread-supply, which issufficient for the proper formation of a stitch in very thick work, andin the event of thinner work being operated upon the difference orsurplus between the amount drawn from the spool and the amount requiredfor the stitch is taken up and con-- trolled by the usual springslack-thread controller or so-called intermediate take-up operatingbetween the tension and the main take-up. The surplus thread thusproduced is objectionable, however, for the reason that it forms anincreased amount of slack thread to be controlled by the intermediatetake-up, the inertia of the spring forming which is too great to vibrateat the required rate to properly control the thread when the machine isoperated at a very high rate of speed.

Having such facts in mind it has been the object of this invention toprovide a simple and effective controller device for automate icallyregulating the amount of thread taken from the spool at each stitch,according to the thickness of the work beingoperated upon,

and thereby avoiding the necessity of providing a surplus amount ofslack thread to be controlled. Such object I secure by means of myimproved construction, as hereinafter set forth in detail and pointedout in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are endelevations of a sewing-machine (excepting the mechanism below thecloth-plate) embodying my invention, showing the changed positionsassumed by the controller when work of difierent thicknesses is beingoperated upon, the take-up and needle remaining in the same positionwith the take-up at its highest point. I-nFig. 21a portion of theface-plate is broken away to more clearly show the parts at the rear ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken through line 3 3 of Fig. 2.Fig. 4. is a perspective view of the controller removed from themachine.- Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views showing the controller andcertain enacting parts in the same positions relative to each other asthat shown in Figs. 1 and2, respectively. Fig. 7 is a view similar tothat of Fig. 1, showing the position of the parts with the take-up atits lowest point.

In said drawings the cloth-plate 1, the overhanging arm 2, having thedetachable faceplate 3 at the forward end thereof, the presserbar 4, theneedle-bar 5, the tension device 6, the take-up 7, and the intermediatespring take-up 8 are all of the same construction and arrangement asfound in the Standard highspeed machine, and do not, as to theirparticular construction, form a part of my present invention. Thetake-up 7, which has a vertical or up-and-down movement in the arc of acircle, forms, with its actuating mechanism, the subject-matter ofanother application filed by me February 18, 1899, hearing Serial No.706,053; but such take-up for the shown in Fig. 3.

and take-up 7 the needle-thread a is engaged and acted upon by myimproved controller (indicated at 9) in a manner as will be described.This controller 9 consists of a lever 10, which is pivotally supportedat a point between its ends in connection with a plate 11 on the rearside of the face-plate 3 by means of a pivot pin or screw 12, as clearlyAt one end this lever 10 is provided with an arm or extension 13, whichprojects outward through an elongated slot 14 in the face-plate 3 andthen extends backward in a direction substantially parallel with thepart 10 to a position opposite the pivotscrew 12, at which point the endof said arm or extension extendsinto an opening 15, which is formed inthe face-plate immediately opposite the end of the said pivot-screw, asshown. By such described construction and arrangement of the controlleran elongated loop or eye is formed at the front side of the face-platefor the passage of the needle-thread therethrough, one end of which(indicated at 16) is capable of a swinging or vibrating movement in thepath of an are described from the axis of the controller, while the0pposite end, (indicated at 17,) being coincident with said axis,remains stationary except as to a rocking movement in a fixed plane.

A plate or arm 19, which is rigidly connected at one end with thepresser-bar, so as to be vertically movable therewith, and at itsopposite end being forked and embracing a stud or roll 20, carried atthe inner end of the controller, serves to form an operative connectionbetween the presser-bar and said controller, whereby any verticalmovement of the presser caused by different thicknesses of work passingthereunder will cause the controller to rock on its pivot and so raiseor lower its movable end 16 relative to the takeup. The action on thethread produced by such movement of the controller will now bedescribed.

In threading the machine the thread is passed from the spool or otherthread-supply through suitable guides to the tension device 6, thenthrough the eye of the intermediate take-up 8 to and through the loop oreye formed by the controller 9, from thence upto and through the eye ofthe take-up 7, and then down again through the controller 9 to theneedle, all as clearly shown in the drawings. Then the machine is thusthreaded, that part of the needle-thread between the tension and thetake-up passes under the movable end 16 of the controller, so as to beengaged thereby, while that portion between the take-up and needle isengaged by the opposite or stationary end 17 of the controller, whichlatter end is arranged in a position about central with the path of theneedle and serves as a guide for the thread in passing to the latter.

In the operation of the machine when thin goods are being operated upon,as shown in Fig. 1, the presser-foot is close to the clothplate and themovable or operating end 16 of the controlleris near its highest pointof movement, in which position it will cause only so much thread to bedrawn from the spool by the take-up as is required to pass around theshuttle. In the event of thicker goods now being passed under thepresser, as shown in Fig. 2, or a raised seam in the goods passingthereunder the presser-bar will be correspondingly raised and so causedto act upon the controller through the arm 19 to rock the same and lowerits thread-engaging end 16, as shown. When the controller is thuslowered relatively to the take-up, it increases the distance in whichthe thread is drawn between the take-up at its highest point and thetension and so causes a greater amount of thread, sufficient for theincreased thickness of the goods, to be drawn from the spool and givendown for the stitch. The controller as thus operated automaticallyregulates the amount of thread necessary to produce a uniform stitch ingoods of varying thicknesses, and consequently renders the use of theintermediate spring take-up 8 practically unnecessary, the action of thelatter being very slight when the thread is controlled in the mannerdescribed and is only used as a safeguard to prevent possibility of whatmight occur in some very rare case-that is, the formation of sufficientslack thread to become twisted about the point of the needle.

In Fig. 7 are shown the relative positions of the parts with the take-upat its lowest point, at which time the take-up has moved below thehighest point of the controller with the thread drawing from the tensionto the needle entirely free from engagement with either sideof thecontroller. As the take-up moves upward from such position that portionof the thread between the take-up and needle will be engaged by thestationary end of the controller to be guided thereby relatively to theneedle, while that portion between the take-up and the tension will beengaged by the opposite end of the controller, whereby anautomatically-predetermined amount of thread will be drawn from thespool for the next stitch, as hereinbefore described.

The controller-engaging arm 19, as herein shown, is pivotally connectedat one end with a block 21 on the presser-bar by means of a screw 22 andis supported with its opposite or controller-engaging end in avertically-adjustable position by means of a clamping or set screw 23,which connects with the block 21 through an elongated slot 24 in thesaid arm 19. This adjustment permits the forked or controller-engagingend of the arm 19 to be raised or lowered relatively to the presser-bar,whereby an increased range of adjustment to the controller may be hadindependent of that obtained by the vertical movement of thepresser-bar, the purpose of which isas follows: In the event of verythin work being operated upon the forked end of the arm 19 should be setto its extreme lowest point, so as to raise the upper end of thecontroller to its highest point,and therebycausea mi nimumamount ofthread, as is required for the formation of the stitch, to be taken fromthe spool. On the other hand, in the event of very heavy work beingoperated upon, the forked end of the controller is then set to itsextreme highest point, so as to lower the movable end of the controllerto its lowest point, and thereby cause the increased amount of threadrequired for such heavy work to be drawn from the spool. Any suitablemeans for securing such vertical adjustment of the controllerengagingend of the arm 19 other than that shown and described may be employedWithout departure from my invention.

A spring 25, clamped in position at one'end between the arm 19 and thehead of the screw 22 and at its free end bearing downward upon the roll20, carried by the controller, serves to prevent undue vibration betweensaid roll and the engaging fork of the controller, and so avoid anynoise that might otherwise occur.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is- J 1. In a sewing-machine, the combination, withthe resser-bar and a take-up device, of a controller provided with twosurfaces for engaging with the thread in its passage to and from thetake-up, one of said surfaces being movable relatively to the take-upand the other being substantially stationary, and means for operatingsaid controller from the presser-bar.

2. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the presser-bar and atake-up device, of a controller provided with two surfaces for engagingwith the thread in its passage to and from the take-up and beingarranged to receive therebetween the take-up during a portion of itsmovement, and means for operating said controller from the presserbar.

3. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the presser-bar and atake-up device, of a thread-controller, comprising a pivotallysupportedlever having an arm provided with two surfaces for engaging with thethread in its passage to and from the take-up,and means for operatingsaid controller from the presserbar to move one of its saidthread-engaging surfaces relatively to the path of the take-up while theother surface remains substantially stationary.

4. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the presser-bar and thetake-up device, of a pivoted controller provided with an elongated loopor eye through which the thread is passed to and from the take-up, oneend of said loop or eye being substantially coincident with the axis ofthe controller-,and means forming an operative connection between saidcontroller and the presser-bar, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the presser-bar and atake-up device, of a controller provided with two surfaces for engagingwith the thread in its passage to and from the take-up, one of saidsurfaces

